


rhapsody for you and me

by theprincessed



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Bisexuality, Crushes, F/M, Friendship, Hand Jobs, Kid Fic, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Divorce, Teacher/Parent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:14:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27804376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theprincessed/pseuds/theprincessed
Summary: Jeno and Jaemin lead very different lives, but when kindergarten teacher & single dad Jaemin is forced to meet other single dad Jeno after an unexpected clash between their kids, sparks fly; just not in the way either of them would've wanted...
Relationships: Eventual Na Jaemin/Lee Jeno, Na Jaemin/Original Female Character(s), Na Jaemin/Original Male Character(s), Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Kudos: 15





	rhapsody for you and me

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya! Well, I didn't expect I'd be releasing a chaptered fic so soon, but here I am. This came from a rant I had where a lot of parent fic I've seen have an only child and they're an angel and it's all lovely and cute. That's perfectly fine, I enjoy that, but it did get me wondering where are the siblings? Where are the difficulties of parenthood? Where are the hard times being a single parent trying to find love? So, I decided to put my words where my mouth is and have a crack at writing the fic I want to see.
> 
> I worked really hard on this and I'm actually pleased with it lol. POV will alternate with chapters and I can't promise a schedule for updates, but letting me know what you think will really motivate me to keep going with this as I am NEEEEERVOUS.
> 
> Title from Clean Bandit's _Symphony_ and I hope you enjoy this first chapter x

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Monday and kindergarten teacher and single parent Na Jaemin wakes up with a feeling that it's gonna be a good day. It has its normal ups and downs, but he also gets more than he bargained for thanks to a handsome man he barely knows.

Plating two plates of scrambled eggs and small bowls of quartered strawberries onto the kitchen island, Jaemin leaves the food behind for a moment.

As soon as he quietly pushes at the door to his sons’ bedroom, he smiles softly at Luna, their pet German Shepherd, laid out on her squashy dog bed in the corner of the room. Sometimes Jaemin regrets buying a bunk bed, but the compromise of her being on guard so she wouldn’t favour Daeshim’s bottom bunk over Sunyeol’s inaccessible top bunk was worth it for how she raises her head from her paws now. She’s trained enough at four years old to know what Jaemin’s arrival means and she forgets the sleeping boys in the shadowed room in favour of darting outside and into the kitchen where she’ll find her bowl already filled with her own breakfast.

Jaemin has been known to let the alarm clock do the wake up call for him, but there’s something almost sacred about getting to see his children’s faces as soon as their eyes flutter open on a new day, even when he pulls apart the curtains and they groan tiredly together. Honestly, it just makes him grin.

“Come on, kiddos!” He picks up a discarded plushie on the ends of both their beds and gently hits their lumpy, stretching forms. “It’s Monday, so it’s time to get up for school!”

“Appa, five more minutes, please!” Sunyeol whines, squinting as he drags himself upright.

Jaemin boops him on his nose and smiles. “No can do, I’m afraid. Does your eomma let you get away with that?” As Sunyeol goes to answer, Jaemin thinks better of it. “Actually, never mind. You’re here. And I say let’s go and face the day! It’s gonna be a great one, I can feel it,”

“That’s what you always say, appa,” Sunyeol’s younger twin, Daeshim, mumbles as he reaches for his glasses nearby.

“Because I’m always right, lovely boy.” Jaemin leans in to kiss his forehead and ruffle his dark hair. “Come on, breakfast is waiting and we don’t want to be late.”

He trusts the twins to get dressed without supervision and walks back into the kitchen, making sure he’s just as ready for work. Juggling two 8-year-olds and getting himself sorted is enough for a morning until he nearly trips over their other dog following Jaemin around like he hasn’t set out his food next to Luna’s.

“Snowball!” he hisses once he’s bumped against the island. Hands on hips, he looks down at the dog panting at him. “What? What do you want from me? Food is over there!” After a stare-off, Snowball wiggles between Jaemin’s legs and trots away. He has no idea where Snowball was hiding earlier, probably somewhere warm in the apartment, and he’s pretty odd in his old age sometimes, but Jaemin can’t help but love the fluffy samoyed as he’s been with him since before the twins were even born. “Dumb dog,” he mutters, plastering on a smile as the boys emerge, clothed and only a little rumpled.

“Hi, Snowball,” Daeshim giggles as he takes a seat opposite where Jaemin stands. “Good morning! Yes, hi!”

Jaemin peeks at his watch then points at breakfast, not wanting them to get too distracted. “Honey, come on, eat. Snowball, you too! Go on, you know where it is!”

His sons had stayed over for the weekend this time, so it’s eating, making sure their bags are packed and then all three of them are out the door with the dogs in tow, to be dropped off at the guy with the weekly crazily changing hair three doors down who dog-sits for Jaemin during the day.

“I think Snowball likes our food more,” Sunyeol grins as he chews.

“I wonder why.” Happy that everyone is eating, Jaemin playfully tweaks Daeshim’s ear to watch him blush red out of guilt. “So, eomma is picking you up from school today, okay? I’ll ask Uncle Renjun to look out for you until she does, but if anything happens, he will call me and you are not to move a muscle. Is that clear?”

“Appa, yes,” Sunyeol sighs, tired of hearing it. 

Truthfully, Jaemin is tired of saying it, but he worries. That said, as long as he’s sure the boys know Plan B, he worries a little less. He glances at Daeshim, who’s always been less ballsy than his brother, quietly picking at his strawberries. “Hey, no long faces. You’ll see eomma this afternoon and you’ll get to go home to your proper bedrooms. That’ll be nice, right? And then tonight, I’ll call you to say goodnight, just like always, I promise.”

Jaemin’s simmering concern has meant he’s lost his appetite for his own meal, draining his mug of his first coffee before he squeezes Daeshim’s shoulder to get him to turn sideways. Crouching down, he holds his son’s hands. “Why can’t you live with us again, appa?” he asks, voice frail and Jaemin’s heart breaks like it was yesterday.

He’s well versed in “why” questions thanks to his job as a kindergarten teacher, but this has an answer so nuanced and complex that he’s been feeding his children the truth bit by bit as they grow and understand more about the world and the people in it. 

Not wanting to seem rude by checking his watch again, Jaemin briefly glances at the kitchen clock. They really will be late if they get into this now and Jaemin had to learn the hard way how to crack that bad habit. “You know me and eomma decided it was best to have two places to live, so all of us could be happy. You have a nice house and nice neighbours and a garden and then you come to me, high up in the big city, with Luna and Snowball and Olive waiting to see you. I’d say you’re lucky.”

Daeshim’s eyes are round and hopeful. “Yeah?”

Jaemin nods eagerly, with the knowledge that he’s won this small battle of emotions. “Absolutely, lovely boy. I’m lucky too.”

On the outside looking in, it probably didn’t look too good for him to leave Haeun, but he knows in his heart that he had to. He always did hate confrontation and when things turned toxic, he realised that they’d both been struggling for a long time. He chose to be happy elsewhere, here in the bustling middle of Seoul and his first love left in the suburbs. It meant leaving the twins behind for a while, but four years on, he can say that he doesn’t regret it. 

Not today anyway.

Jaemin stands up from his crouched position and steps between his sons, arms around their thin shoulders as he tugs them close to his sides. “I’m so lucky that I have you. I love you both so, so much. Never forget that, okay? And I’ll always be here, whenever you need me.”

“Okay,” Sunyeol wheezes a few seconds later, his face smushed into Jaemin’s chest. “ _Okay_ , appa! You can let us go now! I’m still hungry!”

Jaemin laughs, feeling a lot lighter. Sunyeol has that knack to lift the mood in a room to be as bright as he is. “Sorry, sorry, meals are important, yes.” He drops a kiss to each of their heads then leans down, finger pressed to his own cheek. “But kiss first.”

Sunyeol darts in quick with a giggle and Jaemin keeps smiling as Daeshim pushes his grinning lips to his father’s cheek, glasses close to his skin and his arms wrapped around his neck.

Whilst his children finish eating, Jaemin checks their bags one last time and leaves to get their light coats and the dogs’ leashes. Fall means a chill is in the air and the image of the twins waiting for their mother at the school gates flashes before his eyes, making him shudder before he clamps down on the nervous impulse. 

They’ll be fine. He’ll be fine.

He believes it’s going to be a great day.

...✰...

Having been in his job at the school before the twins were even born, Jaemin has the luxury of seeing them to their building, getting goodbye hugs and watching them run excitedly to their friends. They don’t need to be chaperoned necessarily, they’re sensible boys, but maybe he’s holding on as long as he can to the idea that they’re still tiny, with their backpacks and their sparkling, innocent eyes. They don’t hang onto his pants leg in shyness anymore and Jaemin is the one left to nod alone at a few parents until Renjun shuffles up next to him, the silence weighty and Jaemin knows what’s coming.

Renjun teaches in the grade above Daeshim and Sunyeol. He and Jaemin ended up talking at a staff team-building day as Jaemin slunk away from everyone to prop up the bar with a sad face. He had argued with Haeun again and it was almost more brutal over the phone, where he couldn’t leave and felt too bad to hang up on her. He still drank a lot back then too and all of his troubles came tumbling out, whether Renjun wanted to listen or not. 

Afterwards, he felt the guilt of talking to a near stranger about his feisty wife before Renjun made a barbed comment that he would come to learn was his speciality and he’d laughed, partly out of shock but also grateful that someone had bothered to try and cheer him up. He’d make up with Haeun later, less than sober and very clingy, but his friendship with Renjun remained strong throughout and beyond.

He nudges Jaemin with his elbow, arms crossed, as he stands duty here in the schoolyard, a careful gaze on all the kids gathered in groups. “He’s here, by the way.” he mutters out the side of his mouth.

Jaemin rolls his eyes. “Obviously. I’ve seen Eunjoo and Minjun already.”

“Oh, so you do pay attention?” He can hear Renjun’s smile. “He’s wearing a button up, one button undone, and navy slacks.”

Despite trying to keep his gaze fixed on the twins, Jaemin’s eyes start to wander the schoolyard until they find Lee Jeno, saying goodbye to his own children. 

His daughter, Eunjoo, is in the same grade as the twins. They’re at an age where boys and girls can begin to lead pretty separate social lives, so Jaemin doesn’t really know her unless the boys mention her, which is rare. 

On the other hand, he knows Jeno’s son, Minjun, very well. At three years old, he’s placed in Jaemin’s kindergarten class. Despite this, Jaemin has only met Jeno once, briefly, on Minjun’s first day. He’d looked as frazzled as he does now, as if needing to rush off to wherever was more important than making sure his kids’ were settled in their education.

He has a stroller with him today that’s emitting increasingly pitiful, demanding cries as Jeno tries to divide his attention by three and his swept back blonde hair is darkened like it’s still wet from a shower. Jaemin sinks his teeth into his lip before he shakes his head at himself and scowls at Renjun, who looks terrifyingly knowing and amused.

“Actually, the buttons are wrong and he looks like he just tripped out of the shower to come here,” he points out rather petulantly, to hide the fact that he still finds the man handsome in a vague ‘at first sight, barely know you’ sort of way.

“Wow, if only we could all look like that in the morning, huh?”

“We’ve been over this, Injunnie,” Jaemin sighs. “I’m not blind. He’s handsome, yes. But not really a multi-tasker by the looks of it.”

“And you call me judgemental?” Renjun snorts, not short of glee. “Just because your parenting ethos is filled with calming whale noises and walks in the park doesn’t mean everyone is the same - ” His posture straightens as he spots a kid trying to pull the backpack strap of another. “Hey, cut that out before I give you a detention!”

“Whale - ?!” Jaemin splutters, stepping in front of Renjun’s line of sight because he _knows_ how hard Jaemin has worked. “Come on, don’t - ”

Renjun waves him off, but his eyes soften sincerely. “I know you have a hurricane for an ex and a tiny apartment, but at least you’ve experienced it. I’ve been on _dates_ and I don’t get taken seriously. Do you know how frustrating that is?” Jaemin looks suitably cowed and squeezes Renjun’s shoulder, feeling him relax under his touch and his mouth twitch with the ghost of a smile. “Okay, now I’ve put you in your place, I feel ready to take on the kids. Thank you, Nana.”

“You’re welcome.” he chuckles. “I should go too. I need to get my classroom ready before Jisung lets the hordes in. You know the plan for later, right? If Hauen is a no-show, call me.”

As he and Renjun part ways, Jaemin glances one last time at Lee Jeno. There’s no denying that Minjun’s father is a looker, but he can't shake the feeling that something is not right there.

...✰...

Jaemin loves being a teacher and especially for kindergarten age as there’s always a feeling of the unknown. Amidst the paperwork bureaucracy, it’s nice to have a whisper of a thrill from his fairly steady job since he’s not going clubbing at all hours like he did in his youth. The kids keep him on his toes with their frank opinions and cutely embellished stories and simply the rollercoaster that comes from learning about the world for the very first time.

It’s getting close to lunchtime and Jaemin’s glad because he hasn’t been able to keep his eyes off Minjun so far. The kids are having some physical play time with water and sand as their little minds digest what Jaemin taught them this morning and with a typically clumsy Jisung surrounded by giggling kindergarteners, it’s given him a short time to sit back and observe as they build friendships and learn socially. His fixation on Minjun had been subconscious at first, but then he’d started to really pay attention and now he’s stuck. 

Staring into space, Jaemin has come to the conclusion that Minjun doesn’t seem to have his father’s smile. He’s barely had cause to see this, of course, but he can tell from how Lee Jeno’s eyes narrow the more his mouth turns up when Jaemin’s seen him quickly with his children that Minjun’s surprisingly doesn’t match. Minjun’s eyes are full and bright and a warm, almost-copper in the sunshine during their ‘Forest Friday’ trips to local green spaces. He also seems rather outgoing as he bounds over to Jaemin now, dragging a bawling little girl with him.

“Jaemin-ssaem!” he calls, using a particular tactic of Jaemin’s as a starter to them formally addressing him as _seonsaengnim_ and Jaemin puts down a worksheet he wasn’t even looking at to crouch down beside his desk.

“Oh! What’s the matter, Hana-ya?” he coos, focusing all his attention on her red, crying face to get Lee Jeno out of his mind.

“Face...water…” she hiccups through sobs.

“You got a face full of water?” Jaemin clenches his teeth so he doesn’t laugh at how scandalised they both look. “Aigoo! Let’s clean you up, shall we? Was Jisungie no help?” They giggle at the teasing about his classroom assistant as Jaemin retrieves tissues from the box on his desk and he gently wipes Hana’s face of water, tears and snot. When he looks down to put it in the trash, he sees Minjun hasn’t let her hand go and, against his better judgement to not get even more preoccupied with him, rubs his knuckle over Minjun’s chubby cheek. “Thank you, Minjun-ah, for bringing Hana to me. That was a very caring thing to do.” 

Minjun beams and yep, it’s definitely _not_ a Lee smile. In fact, he doesn’t really look like Lee Jeno, period. Maybe he’s following his mother.

Still, he was being honest, so Jaemin decides to bring out the reward and puts a hand on the cupboard door behind him. Mostly locked and containing storage for his materials, he keeps one of the rewards here out of the reach of little hands. He turns to Minjun and a sniffling Hana and beckons them closer.

“Do you want to see what’s inside here? It’s something only really good children get to have and it’s going to be our secret, okay?” Thankfully, most of his kids aren’t at the age yet to question if keeping secrets is a good thing or not and he smiles when they agree, utterly fascinated. Next to the half open door, he asks for their hands one at a time and gently presses a circular, blue animal stamp to their upturned palms. Today, it’s a bear declaring _well done!_ “Good job, you two,” he grins. “Off you go. Meal time soon.”

Minjun cheers as he yanks Hana back towards the action and Jaemin's eyes meet Jisung’s as he locks the cupboard and stands up. He blinks and hopes his ears aren’t red as he tries to look busy again and tells himself not to wonder about funny, kind Minjun anymore.

...✰...

At lunch, Jaemin settles for ramyeon from a stand just outside school grounds with a jittery Jisung and Renjun who joins them from the other building to gather in Jaemin’s empty classroom as all three of them manage to escape cafeteria duty for once.

Jaemin sits in his desk chair like king of the castle and mainly to see his co-workers squeeze onto tiny chairs meant for kindergartners. Smiling all day and being full of energy, he doesn’t get to enjoy many power trips so he’ll take small victories anywhere he can get them.

“I think Jaemin hyung’s got a crush!” Jisung blurts out, surprising the room, before he immediately shovels more noodles into his mouth.

As if the relief of saying what’s on his mind is instantly noticeable, his leg has stopped bouncing and his shoulders have come down. None of them are good at holding back when they really don’t want to and Jaemin’s mouth drops open, ready to attack back. “Jisungie is pining after that pianist at that wine bar friend of yours!”

It’s the first thing that popped into his head, but Renjun stops fidgeting in his chair to raise his eyebrow at the amount of gossip being tossed into his lap so easily from his friends. “Wait. Let me tackle this piece by piece like it deserves.” He goes as far as pushing his food onto the edge of Jaemin’s desk and smiles shrewdly at Jisung. “What makes you think Jaemin has a crush? More importantly, _who_ do you think he has a crush on?”

Jaemin stops breathing for a moment. He silently worries that maybe his spacing out in Minjun’s direction was too obvious today as Jisung hesitates. “Ah - I...actually, I - I don’t know for sure, hyung. It’s just a hunch. But he was staring in class this morning.”

“I’m a teacher, Jisungie!” Jaemin protests, “I need to look at my students,”

“So, he was full on ‘head empty, no thoughts’, huh?” Renjun laughs, throwing the spare straw from his coffee at Jaemin’s head. “Who was the little mite he was staring at?”

“Nobody!”

“Come on, Jisung-ah,” Renjun needles, ignoring Jaemin, “what happened?”

Jisung’s nose scrunches. “Well...he did give Lee Minjun a reward stamp today,”

“I gave one to Kim Hana as well, so that’s hardly evidence!” Jaemin scoffs, his laugh high and unfortunately suspicious to his own ears.

It seems Renjun thinks so too, as he sniggers behind his hand and waits for Jisung to catch up. Eventually, he slowly points his chopsticks at Jaemin and his small eyes get marginally wider as the won coin drops inside his mind and he leans his chair so far that it’s wobbling on two legs. “Oh my god! You don’t! Lee Minjun’s father? Really?”

Renjun nods smugly, returning to small bites of his food. “Mm-hm. He thinks Minjun’s daddy is sooooo handsome he notices when his clothes aren’t right,”

“That’s taken so far out of context it might as well be in the Hangang!” Jaemin whines. “And never ever say ‘daddy’ again!”

“Not far then,” Renjun quips and Jaemin gives up trying to find something to physically throw at his friend too when he gestures with his ramyeon cup at Jisung instead. “What’s this about you pining for Zhong Chenle from one of our bar haunts?” he snaps his fingers in Jisung’s face as he tries to remember the name. “Ah, what’s it called - in Gangnam - Jungsik?”

“No, hyung, please! Can we not do this?” he groans, nearly spilling his food on himself as his telltale nerves return.

“You didn’t know?” Jaemin crows, happy that the heat is off him. He clicks his tongue. “Injunnie, we’ve been going there on and off for, what, three years? And you’ve never seen our Jisungie stop at the piano on Zhong Chenle’s nights ‘just to listen’? Boy is whipped, Your Honour.”

Jisung flips his chopsticks into his empty cup with a clatter and puts his head towards his knees as he frantically smooths his hair and hides his face as his friends laugh fondly. 

Meal times always fly by for Jaemin when he’s having fun with his two favourite (adult) people and especially when he can tease somebody else to make them conveniently forget his own disaster area of a love life.

...✰...

Jisung shuts the door on the last child running into their parents’ arms and Jaemin stands to take a big stretch and walk around as his assistant starts to tidy up the classroom to be ready to do it all again tomorrow. 

Mondays are hard for everyone and Jaemin takes a look out of the window as he goes over his plans for the rest of the day. Without the twins, he’s free to do what he wants and he’s made sure to fill the start of his working week so he doesn’t have to think about staying alone in his apartment with only the occasional bark from the dogs and scratching feet in Olive’s cage for company.

The fall sunlight is turning hazy in the late afternoon and a particular glint catches his eye. Blonde hair still swept back, but with his morning outfit much more in order, Lee Jeno waits, with Minjun by his side and without the stroller, for his other child to come from the school building. It serves as a reminder that Jaemin hopes Haeun has picked up the twins and he glances at his phone just in case. There’s no messages or missed calls from Renjun, so he goes back to watching as the man standing in the schoolyard with a baby strapped to his torso in a sling smooths his hand over its tuft of black hair and smiles, eyes disappearing. He’s clearly in love with his bundle of joy and Jaemin finds his lips twitching as it takes him back to the days when the twins were that tiny and totally dependent on him and the woman he loved.

“What’s making you smile, hyung?” Jisung asks suddenly, coming up behind Jaemin to peer over his shoulder and out the window too.

“Nothing,” he answers quickly, as he recognises Eunjoo’s arrival, hair in messy bunches flying everywhere. She almost tackles her father’s waist until she notices her baby sibling and slows down. Jeno gives her a careful hug and must tell her to look after Minjun as she takes one of her brother’s hands in hers and Jeno takes the other to turn in the direction of home. “Just wondering if Haeun picked up the twins, that’s all,” he adds belatedly, moving towards his desk. “I should phone Renjun just in case.”

It’s something of an excuse to change the subject and Jisung lets it go easily, waving goodbye to Jaemin as he shrugs on his coat and leaves the classroom. Jaemin gives the room one last sweep as he puts his phone to his ear, figuring there’s no harm in checking with his friend, even if he trusts him. “Yes, the twins left with her,” Renjun says, as soon as he picks up the call.

Jaemin decides to come clean. “Thanks, but I wasn’t ringing you about that, actually. Do you want to go for coffee tonight?” Keeping up with his Monday tradition to be busy, it would be nice to have a longer chat with one of his oldest friends. He doesn’t really like to talk that much shit about Haeun, as she’s still the mother of his children, and Jisung’s younger presence always keeps the urge at bay, but it’s also good to let off steam sometimes and Renjun’s a great listener and a great shit talker.

“Wow, it’s wild with you these days, isn’t it?” he teases then sighs hard. “Sorry, I can’t tonight. I found a website for people who aren’t sex mad on first meeting, so I’m gonna look through that and see if I can find myself date number one million.” Jaemin makes a sympathetic, accepting noise. “Besides, aren’t you volunteering?”

He was hoping a coffee or two with Renjun would fill the gap between work day and his volunteer work, but he’s a big boy and he can manage the too-quiet apartment and crippling loneliness.

“Yes, you’re right. I’ll just have a meal and a shower at home then leave for the hospital.”

Volunteering has always been a big part of Jaemin’s life, thanks to his parents and growing up as an only child. He’ll never forget the joy on their faces when he and Haeun told them that they were having twins. Sunyeol and Daeshim would have each other, but Jaemin made sure to pass on the importance of gratitude and giving back, even as young as they are.

Once he moved into the city, he started taking them with him to local soup kitchens. The people they helped loved having two caring boys and their proud father there to brighten up their day and the twins liked it too; meeting people from all different walks of life and doing their bit, however small.

It’s the same with the hospital for Jaemin, although he learned to only do shifts there when it's Haeun’s turn to have the twins home. There’s nothing more awkward than trying to man an information point whilst your toddlers at the time are having a tantrum underneath the desk. The woman he’d been working with had sneered at him with thinly-veiled, middle-aged disdain, like he couldn’t control his bored, tired kids well enough and Jaemin didn’t try to juggle them with the hospital anymore.

He would’ve given it up for them, but his friends had rightly pointed out that the tenuous agreement of shared custody between him and his ex meant that he had days, particularly evenings, when it was just him. He could breathe in the warmth of the corridors and fantasise about another life where he became a doctor instead and all whilst actually helping patients. It might’ve been having a chat whilst they waited for transport or pointing them to the right department for their clinic visits, but it was enough to feed his soul.

Besides, the woman full of disdain has long since moved on and Jaemin arrives tonight with a full belly and his ID badge pinned to his white polo shirt uniform to see another volunteer loitering with a smile. Open, kind and patient is the key and Jaemin searches for his name in his brain as he approaches the desk, but before he can say hello, the man looks up and beams at him.

“Jaemin-ah, hi! Nice to see you again. How was work?”

Jaemin pushes his shoulders back and lifts his chin to get a cheeky look under his eyelashes at the man’s name and to slide into flirt mode. He’s pretty sure over the last month that they’ve been on this task together that the man fancies him. It’s a lovely little ego boost after dealing with kids with no filter and mucky fingerprints all day and, once again, he is glad that he made an effort to come tonight. He’s styled his dyed blonde hair up and put on nice pants, his resolve only faltering slightly when he realises that they’re an awfully familiar navy. Lee Jeno wore navy slacks this morning.

Jaemin smirks at the man playfully and leans his elbows on the desk since the foyer is fairly quiet. “Work was great, Benjamin, thanks for asking. What about you? Any damsels in distress need saving under gym equipment today?”

Benjamin ducks his head shyly as Jaemin shuffles around to stand next to him. “That was once, so no. No one needed saving.”

Jaemin wiggles his eyebrows. “Oh? Well, you’ll never know what could happen tonight.”

His laugh booms. The width of his chest is like a barrel and maybe Jaemin should expect that from a personal trainer with Nordic looks who seems like he could throw Jaemin over his shoulder like a bad-tempered Viking ancestor if he didn’t have such a sunny disposition. Jaemin has to admit he finds the contrast attractive.

He makes a gentle touch on Benjamin’s bicep linger for longer than usual and winks when their eyes meet. He knows he’s being more blatant, but he gets a bigger kick out of it to see the other man flustered as he spots an elderly lady with a walker in need of assistance.

Even though he thinks Benjamin could probably snap him in two, he knows that he’s been wanting to get into Jaemin’s pants for a while and he feels like playing up to it, so it’s no surprise to him when they end up in a pitch black janitor’s closet on their short break, making out in a rush. Benjamin’s grip on his waist is tight, not least because of Jaemin’s hand currently working him over in sloppy strokes.

At first, it was exciting to have the opportunity to get some, but then Benjamin’s hands felt all wrong and Jaemin couldn’t see for shit and the need to get off quickly dissipated. Still, Benjamin bends to his will easily if his grunts in Jaemin’s ear are anything to go by and he keeps him close with his other hand at the nape of his neck, leaving no space for Benjamin to physically help him out. All he can do is hold on and press bruises into Jaemin’s sides as he quickens his pace and he growls then whimpers before Jaemin feels his fingers become sticky.

“Oh my god, I’m so - jeez, I’m so sorry,” he chuckles, quieter from post-orgasm exhaustion. “I can usually - I last longer than that, I swear - ”

Jaemin cringes, thankful that the darkness hides his grimace as he takes his wet hand out and feels around for the stack of paper towels he knows are kept in here for emergencies. And this is an emergency. The need to get out of there crashes over Jaemin like surf on an Australian beach. “It’s happened to us all,” he replies weakly, stuffing the paper into Benjamin’s pants pocket. “I’ll take it as a compliment.”

He feels Benjamin’s neck flush warmly against his hand and wriggling fingers reach for his zip. “Thank you, yeah. Just let me - I’ll - ”

Jaemin squirms away, patting his chest. Even a mildly embarrassing sexual experience won’t dampen his love for boobs and hard pecs. “It’s okay,” he says, hoping his voice sounds lighter than he feels. His skin is as unyielding as this man’s hold was, stretched over his body. Frankly, he feels wholly unsatisfied. He wonders if Renjun has a point about sex not being everything and if he should finally start to look for more from his conquests. Sadly, he doubts Benjamin fits the bill. He pecks him on the lips anyway. “We’d better get back before our volunteer manager finds out we’ve been gone too long.”

It’s a lie because Benjamin really didn’t last long at all, but Jaemin lets him have that much as they agree to walk out of the closet separately and with time between them. Left alone, he adjusts his rapidly deflating semi and opens the door, peering out slowly to see if the coast is clear.

It’s only when he’s walking some distance behind Benjamin that Jaemin really registers that they’re roughly the same height and he’s blonde too. Like himself (although probably naturally in his case) and like someone he hasn’t been able to get off his mind lately and especially today. The memory of Lee Jeno carrying his baby against his chest makes a ripple of heat flash through him and he groans inwardly.

He makes sure to stay away from Benjamin when they resume their duties, his head whirling with too many thoughts. He was certain that he felt about Lee Jeno like how he felt about Benjamin, from one handsome man to another, interest without substance, but perhaps he has to concede also that maybe Jisung is right. 

Teacher Na Jaemin has a crush on a parent.

...✰✰✰...

**Author's Note:**

> Poor Jaemin had a hell of a Monday, eh? I'd say his kids are cute though, but I'm biased. ;) What do you think of the Na family? What about Jeno? Do you want to know more? The secret stamp happened to me and I've never forgotten it lol.  
> ___
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading, lovelies. Kudos and/or comments are greatly appreciated, especially since this is my first NCT chaptered fic ahhhh! x
> 
> [Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/theprincessed) & [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/theprincessed) @theprincessed - Come chat to me (seriously, I need more kpop friends lol). :)


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